By Bonny Burrows
Bunyip retiree Les Abrehart should be enjoying retirement; instead he’s restoring bikes for charity.
The 82-year-old Hillview Independent Living Units resident has spent the last five years restoring old bikes before donating them to the Bunyip and Garfield Community Shops.
His interest in restoring bikes came about 25 years ago when his grandson, Dale was part of a Berwick Secondary College team which won a state competition in building human-powered vehicles.
Fellow Bunyip resident Roman Kulkewycz said once it became known Mr Abrehart was restoring bikes for charity, the whole community got on board.
“He has never been short of bikes needing repair. He often has locals drop bikes off for him to fix up,” Mr Kulkewycz said.
Mr Kulkewycz said Mr Abrehart would occasionally spot a “gem” on a neighbour’s front lawn prior to hard waste collection, which he would then snap up to donate.
He now has quite the bicycle collection, which he stores in a paddock on his eight-hectare property.
The exact number of bikes restored over the years is unknown.
“He (Mr Abrehart) comes up with a round figure of about 100, but I suspect that this is a rather conservative estimate,” Mr Kulkewycz said.
“He spends on average about 10 hours per week restoring bikes.”
Mr Kulkewycz said Mr Abrehart’s tireless work was just another example of how community-minded he was.
In his younger years he was a Scout leader at Doveton/Hallam, was part of the Bunyip Red Cross transport system and, along with wife Heather, is a life member of the Hallam Fire Brigade.
